The present disclosure relates to implants, instruments and methods for repairing bones. More precisely, the present disclosure relates to an improved system for repairing fractures in bones, or otherwise stabilizing weak, diseased, or degenerative bones, including but not limited to bones of the hand or foot.
The implants, systems and methods disclosed herein provide many improvements over existing bone fixation technology including, but not limited to: implants that can provide inherent alignment, and stabilization forces to the bone; implants that can reduce the negative impact of the implant on the patient; and systems/methods which allow a single surgeon to surgically apply the implants to a patient.
In the treatment of various bone fractures, it is desirable to repair the fracture by aligning the bone fragments and stabilizing the bone fragments in the aligned position for a period of time sufficient to allow the bone fracture to heal. Restoring a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment may also be referred to as “setting the bone”, “reducing the fracture”, or simply “reduction.” Depending on the type of fracture, the bone fragments can be realigned utilizing either a “closed reduction” procedure or an “open reduction” procedure. A closed reduction procedure does not require surgical incisions to access the bone fragments to align them. Rather, the doctor can manipulate the bone fragments with his/her hands to align the bone fragments and then apply an external device, such as a cast, to stabilize the bone fragments while they heal. In contrast, an open reduction procedure involves surgically accessing the bone fragments to align and stabilize the bone fragments with implants such as bone plates or bone screws.
A wide variety of bone plates and screws have been developed in order to serve such purposes. Existing bone plate technology typically utilizes relatively thick bone plates in order to provide sufficient stabilization to the bone fragments. However, thicker bone plate implants increase the likelihood of irritation to the patient's surrounding soft tissues, causing inflammation, pain and other complications.
Moreover, existing bone plate and bone screw technology is typically applied to the patient by a team of surgeons. Usually, one surgeon will reduce the fracture and hold the bone fragments in place while the other surgeon attaches the thick bone plates to the bone fragments. Furthermore, existing bone fracture alignment tools can be cumbersome, complex, and bulky.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a bone repair system that can simplify the surgical procedure by providing implants with inherent bone fragment alignment and stabilization characteristics; thinner implants to reduce the negative impact of the implants on the patient; and devices, systems, and methods which simplify the surgical procedure to allow a single surgeon to affix the implants to fractured bones.
Those of skill in the art will recognize that the following description is merely illustrative of the principles of the disclosure, which may be applied in various ways to provide many different alternative examples and may be applicable outside the fields of surgery or medical devices. It will be appreciated that various features of the examples and examples of the present disclosure may be mixed and matched to form a variety of other combinations and alternative examples without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the following examples and examples described herein. As such, the described examples are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. While the present disclosure is made in the context of tubular hand bones for the purposes of illustrating the concepts of the design, it is contemplated that the present design and/or variations thereof may be suited to other bones, including but not limited to: foot bones, any tubular bone of any size or shape, or any non-tubular bone of any size or shape.
All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
Standard medical planes of reference and descriptive terminology are employed in this specification. A sagittal plane divides a body into right and left portions. A mid-sagittal plane divides the body into equal right and left halves. A coronal plane divides a body into anterior and posterior portions. A transverse plane divides a body into superior and inferior portions. Anterior means toward the front of the body. Posterior means toward the back of the body. Superior means toward the head. Inferior means toward the feet. Medial means toward the midline of the body. Lateral means away from the midline of the body. Axial means toward a central axis of the body. Abaxial means away from a central axis of the body. Ipsilateral means on the same side of the body. Contralateral means on the opposite side of the body. These descriptive terms may be applied to an animate or inanimate body.